Alibaba's stock goes nuts after a red-hot quarter

Alibaba reported quarterly results on Tuesday that blew past analyst expectations, and now the stock is surging.

In early trading, shares jumped by as much as 6% after rising by at least 10% pre-market.

The Chinese e-commerce giant posted sales of 22.2 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) for its fiscal second quarter that ended in September, up 32% year-over-year. Analysts had estimated sales of 21.3 billion yuan.

Net income came in at 22.7 billion yuan ($3.6 billion).

The metric that many analysts watch closely is the total value of transactions made across the Alibaba marketplace, called gross merchandise volume. That rose 28% year-on-year to $713 billion yuan ($112 billion).

"Our ecosystem continues to thrive," the company said of its China retail marketplace. "User engagement is healthy with more buyers purchasing across more categories."

That's a departure on the outlook for the Chinese consumer from a company like Yum Brands, which spun off its business in the country and cut its forecast for sales.

Mobile gross merchandise volume made up nearly two-thirds — 62% — of the transactions the company recorded in China.

Alibaba shares are down about 27% year-to-date. They hit an all-time low after Barron's magazine published a 3,000-word takedown, arguing that shares could drop 50% from levels at the time. They have rallied about 33% since then.
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